Down and Out in
Beverly Hills was a 1986 comedy based on an old French
play that had previously been adapter to the silver
screen in 1932. The movie starred Nick Nolte as
Jerry Baskin, Richard Dreyfuss as Dave Whiteman,
Little Richard as the neighbor, and Bette Midler as
Barbara Whiteman. The movie generally received
good reviews back in the day, was a huge box office hit,
and continues to be well received. Some of you may
even remember that Fox had a TV series based on the
movie that ran for 13 shows in 1987 before being
canceled..

In
this movie, the Whitemans are a bored, wealthy married
couple. Dave (Dreyfuss) is having an affair with
the maid, and Barabara (Midler) drowns her sorrows in
New Age therapies like Yoga, aerobics, and meditation.
The rest of the family is no better, with a son confused
about his sexuality and an anorexic daughter.
Jerry (Nolte), on the other hand, is a homeless man who
lost his dog, and in a state of despair, decides to
drown himself in the Whitemans' pool

Luckily, Jerry is saved by Dreyfuss and
brought into his family, who allows him to stay for a
while. Need less to say, Dave's
family, including his wife, are forced to
re-examine their own lives based on Nolte's experiences.
Hey, and Little Richard lives next door!